Posts Tagged ‘Steve Kerr’

June 15, 2016 · 12:40 PM ET

CLEVELAND — The Golden State Warriors announced Wednesday that starting center Andrew Bogut is out for the remainder of The Finals, having suffered multiple bone bruises to his left knee in a collision with the Cleveland Cavaliers’ J.R. Smith early in the third quarter of Game 5 on Monday. Bogut’s expected recovery time is 6-8 weeks.

“It’s bad news for our team,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Wednesday. “Boges has made an impact in this series. First couple of games, I thought he was really impactful. Last two, we played him fewer minutes, but still he’s a defensive presence at the rim, a rebounder, and a great passer. So we’ll miss the minutes he’s been giving us.”

Bogut averaged just 12 minutes per game in The Finals and saw his playing time decrease in each game. He scored 10 points in Game 1 and blocked five shots in Game 2, but has been largely ineffective otherwise. The Warriors have been at their best playing small, which they were unable to do much with Draymond Green suspended for Game 5.

They could start a lineup of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes and Green, which started the last three games of last year’s Finals and is a plus-14 in 29 minutes in this series.

“That will be a decision Coach has to make, how we’re going to start,” Curry said. “I do know when we go small and have the ability to kind of kick the pace up a little bit, it usually works to our advantage. But I think it works because of the other lineups that we can throw out there and have that versatility throughout the course of 48 minutes.

“So we’ll see how the rotations go and how we start. But at the end of the day, whoever’s out there has to execute better than we did in Game 5 in order to win another championship.”

June 14, 2016 · 10:24 AM ET

NEWS OF THE MORNING

No. 1:Bogut set to have MRI on left knee — The Cleveland Cavaliers won Game 5 last night in large part because of their shot selection, taking 34 of 83 shots (or 41 percent) were inside the restricted area. Part of that easy access to the front of the rim came with Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green being suspended for Game 5 and another part came when Green’s teammate, Andrew Bogut, left the game early in the second quarer. Bogut blocked J.R. Smith‘s shot, but collided with him and landed awkwardly, causing his left knee to buckle. He’ll have an MRI today, writes John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle:

Missing Draymond Green was bad enough for the Warriors, who were without their two most significant big men once Andrew Bogut injured his left knee within the first two minutes of the third quarter Monday night.

Bogut collided with Cleveland guard J.R. Smith after blocking his shot. Bogut planted his left leg when he landed and Smith then fell on it, appearing to hyper-extend it. Bogut remained down, holding his knee on the baseline and writhing in pain for two possessions until the Warriors called timeout and assisted their center to the locker room.

He played just 7½ minutes, didn’t score and had two rebounds, three blocks and four fouls.

…

Bogut will have an MRI exam Tuesday to discover the severity of the injury, which initially was diagnosed as a sprain, and his status for Thursday’s Game 6 in Cleveland hasn’t been determined.

…

Backup center Festus Ezeli could see a spike in minutes in Game 6 if Bogut doesn’t return, but coach Steve Kerr could also use a variety of players and lean on a smaller alignment.

“All year long, I’m used to my role changing,” Ezeli said. “If that’s the case, I’ll be ready.”

What he wasn’t ready to do was blame the loss on Bogut’s absence.

“You could look at Bogut’s injury as another thing that sucked energy out of our team, but at the end of the day, those are all semantics,” said Ezeli. “Kyrie (Irving) and LeBron (James) hit some tough shots, but they also got some easy looks to get them going. We turned the ball over, and Bogut not being out there didn’t force those turnovers. We’ve just got to play a better, smarter game. I believe in this team, and I think we’ll be fine.”

Harrison Barnes said, “I hope (Bogut) gets better and he’ll be able to play, but if he’s not there, we’ll have to compensate. Obviously, we’ll have Draymond back, so we’ll have another body, but everyone has to pitch in.”

June 13, 2016 · 7:54 PM ET

A post shared by Draymond Green (@money23green) on May 20, 2016 at 3:01pm PDT

OAKLAND — I feel your pain Draymond Green.

For a player who serves as the vocal and emotional leader for the reigning and defending NBA champions to have to sit out a Game 5 of The Finals at home, with a chance to clinch back-to-back titles, it has to tear your heart out.

Sure, plenty of folks insist that you did this to yourself, that you knew one more Flagrant foul point would result in a one-game suspension.

It’s true, we all knew. Kiki Vandeweghe, the NBA’s VP of Basketball Operations, was left with no choice but to discipline Green, what with all of the hoopla surrounding his kicking and swinging exploits during this postseason.

But I still didn’t think his response to being stepped over by LeBron James late in the Warriors’ Game 4 win deserved anything more than the double fouls the officials usually call in an instance where players exchange tough words but don’t dive into any sort of physical exchange.

If the Warriors take care of their business while you watch next door from the A’s stadium (according to NBA rules Green cannot be in the building from two hours prior to tip off until after the game has ended), you won’t have far to go to join in on the championship celebration.

The fact that you won’t be able to participate in what serves as potentially the biggest game in the Warriors’ historic season is what stinks.

As much as this season has been about two-time KIA MVP Stephen Curry and fellow All-Star and Splash Brother Klay Thompson and their otherworldly shooting exploits, as much as it’s been about the Warriors’ Strength In Numbers mantra and campaign, it’s also been about the continued evolution of the game of Green, a hybrid point/power forward capable of performing at another level on both ends of the floor.

This game without any of the principal figures — James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love included — for whatever reason, is something of a letdown. You always want to see the best of the best, at full strength, go at it with everything on the line.

But not this time.

The game must go on …

And something tells me one of these guys will have to play a significant role tonight for the Warriors to win

Where is Draymond? With Beast Mode!

***

WARRIORS 32, CAVALIERS 29 at end of 1st quarter. LeBron is clicking (4-for-7 for 12 points, 2-for-2 from deep), Kyrie and JR, too (17 between them) and the Cavs are still down. Warriors are 5-for-13 from deep, Curry has 10 and Klay 8). Iguodala with 8 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and the early lead for Finals MVP.

***

Strength In Numbers?

Kerr wasn't kidding when he said every player should be ready. He used 11 in first quarter. #Warriors

The Cavs better have a decent lead early in the 4th. This building is gonna kick the Warriors up a notch. #NBAFinals

***

Right on Ricky!

***

Bogut with a sweet block and a nasty knee injury on the same play. Huge loss for the Warriors at 10:07 of the third. They are without their two best rim protectors (Bogut and Green) for the remainder of this game.

No replays necessary!

Andrew Bogut is grabbing his left knee and never got up after blocking J.R. Smith's shot.

Cavs are making them work like crazy for even a decent look.

I respect the @warriors ability to make 3s and other tough shots, but I hate their shot selection #NBAFinals

***

CAVS 93, WARRIORS 84 after 3. LeBron is refusing to go quietly into the offseason right now. Suffocating defensive effort from his team. And clutch shot-making from he and Kyrie. Warriors look fatigued and missing Draymond’s presence on both ends something terrible.

Great drama!

Warriors will have to rally to try and win this thing here at Oracle. And without Bogut or Draymond it’s looking tight. Hold on for what should be an unreal fourth quarter.

***

On the flip side …

This is the first time ever in an #NBAFinals history that two teammates have had 40+ points in the same game.

***

I cannot say enough about the way LeBron and Kyrie approached this game. Total calm. Understood what was at stake and played like assassins. Unreal performance by two guys. Barely needed any scoring help from the rest of the Cavaliers.

June 13, 2016 · 11:19 AM ET

NEWS OF THE MORNING

No. 1: Draymond, in absence, stirs Warriors’ emotions— Draymond Green, the Golden State’s versatile and valuable, almost positionless forward, is considered to be the defending champions’ emotional leader. Losing him to suspension from Game 5 of the 2016 Finals (9 ET, ABC) would seem, at first glance, to be like stealing the batteries from a very expensive toy. But based on the Warriors’ reactions to Green’s suspension, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ hand in it (subtle or not) and the obstacle thrown suddenly in their path to back-to-back championships, the home team at Oracle Arena might be playing Monday with all the emotion they need. And first and foremost, that will be anger, writes J.A. Adande of ESPN.com:

They feel disrespected once more. Put upon. Agitated.

In the Warriors’ worldview, LeBron James baited Draymond Green by stepping over him in Game 4. That prompted the retaliatory strike from Green which struck James in the groin area and drew a flagrant foul 1 penalty from the NBA in a review that was announced Sunday. James all but dared the NBA to do it after Game 4, and now Golden State feels the league capitulated to one of its biggest stars. The flagrant foul ruling put Green above the playoff limit of three flagrant foul points and brought an automatic suspension for Game 5 on Monday. It also brought up some fiery talk from the Warriors, who got an early start on making up for the absence of their emotional leader.

“We’re going to go out there and do it as a team and win for him,” Klay Thompson said.

Alrighty, then.

Other Warriors players and coaches said they noticed a ramped-up intensity after coach Steve Kerr informed the team of Green’s suspension during Sunday’s practice and they feel it will give them the necessary edge in what could have otherwise been seen as a mere coronation process after taking a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals following their victory in Game 4.

They do best when doubted, as they were when they fell behind 3-1 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals. They also respond well to perceived slights. Example A would be their 24-0 start after having their championship credentials called into question for everything from lack of injuries to playoff strength of schedule.

Now that they have fresh motivation, the question is whether they have the means to prove their point without the versatile Green, the defensive anchor of their small-ball “Death Lineup” and an offensive facilitator prone to the occasional scoring outburst (such as his 28 points in Game 2).

Much depends on how the Cavaliers choose to prey on his absence: by going big with the likes of Kevin Love or even Timofey Mozgov, or by trying to lure the Warriors into a diminished smaller lineup by extending the minutes of Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye. It also could be an opportunity for LeBron to break through now that he doesn’t have to worry about one of the Warriors’ most effective defenders.

June 10, 2016 · 7:43 PM ET

THE LAND — Your move Splash Brothers!

LeBron James and his crew answered the call in Game 3 of this series, bouncing back from a 30-point tail dragging in Game 2 to deliver a 30-point whipping of their own Wednesday night.

Now it’s time to see if two-time KIA MVP Stephen Curry and All-Star shooting assassin Klay Thompson will finally get going in The Finals and remind us why we’ve been talking about them being the best shooting backcourt in NBA history. Doing it on the Cavaliers’ home floor tonight in Game 4 would only serve to heighten the drama in this series (not that it needs much more, see Kevin Love and the concussion protocol, Draymond Green insisting that the Warriors got “bullied, punked” in Game 3, etc.)

I don’t know that the Warriors can finish this series the way they want to without Curry and Thompson getting back into the groove they were in during most of their record-setting regular season.

Asking Green and the rest of the Warriors to carry them to victory in two more games, even with at least two more possibly on their home floor, is asking a bit too much.

We know what LeBron will bring tonight. No one knows the magnitude of the moment like does, playing in his sixth straight Finals with legacy on the line each and every time he hits the floor.

***

Pretty lame effort from LeBron and Kyrie in the final minute. Reads more as stat padding than trying to close the gap

***

WARRIORS 108, CAVALIERS 97 — SPLASH BROTHERS REVENGE!

Warriors head home with a 3-1 lead and a chance to close the Cavaliers out before the home crowd at Oracle Monday night to win their second straight Larry O’Brien trophy. Don’t guess anyone will waste time questioning Steph (38 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds) or Klay (25 and 4 rebounds) tonight.

And Stephen Curry reminds us that the Warriors did nothing more than take care of home by winning Games 1 and 2 of this series by a combined 48 points.

Perspective, folks.

This series is not over.

Not yet.

There’s plenty of basketball to be played, at least eight or more quarters between now and Friday night’s Game 4.

We’ve written teams off before in this postseason (anyone remember that 3-1 hole the Warriors were in against Oklahoma City in the Western Conference finals?), only to see said team rise from the ashes and shock the world.

I’m not making any predictions, that’s fool’s gold. I am only here to point out that you keep your mouth shut until someone wins four games. A little NBA History, from @NBAHistory, for you …

#NBAFinals History: 31 teams have lost the first 2 games; 19 won Game 3; 3 won series in 7; 3 lost in 7; 11 lost in 6; 6 lost in 5; 8 swept

***

Tristan Thompson is all over the place.

It's like no one is boxing out Tristan Thompson. He's everywhere.

***

CAVALIERS 51, WARRIORS 43 in a wild first half. The MVP has been a disaster but his teammates are battling like crazy. Feels like the Cavaliers should be up 20 but they couldn’t get right in the second quarter.

***

Sometimes a Big 2 is all you need.

LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in Game 3:

***

“Cavs in six” chant breaks out with 51 seconds on the clock and the home team up 30. Be easy now, it’s just one game. It’s a final, Cavs 120, Dubs 90. Big games from Kyrie, LeBron and JR Smith showed up. No Love, of course.

***

My NBA sources are telling me, Curry was hurt again tonite. Should be better on Fri. #excuses.

June 6, 2016 · 7:31 AM ET

No. 1:Green is money for Warriors in Game 2 win — Draymond Green‘s role for the Golden State Warriors is clearly defined. The All-Star forward serves as the emotional and vocal leader for the world champions, a defensive-minded hybrid point forward/center capable of playing the role of rim protector and facilitator in the same sequence. But Green showed off his splashy side in the Warriors’ Game 2 blowout win over the Cleveland Cavaliers Sunday at Oracle Arena. Our very own Scott Howard-Cooper describes the Day Day takeover:

This didn’t earn him a flagrant foul, maybe even an ejection, and a suspension for the next game? Seriously?

Draymond Green openly pummeled Cleveland, the team and the city, on Sunday. He stepped on their throat, belted away their response plans with a tight fist, kicked them where it hurts and yet not one disciplinary whistle from referees to slow the rampage. It was like no one could stop him.

There were about 20,000 people watching in person and millions more on TV — they are all witnesses — though maybe not the Cavaliers, since they undoubtedly turned away in disgust and shame. And the way everyone around Green cheered the intentional infliction of pain. He hit back-to-back three-pointers in the second quarter, following a make from behind the arc about four minutes earlier, and Oracle Arena erupted.

The Warriors, too. With Green leading the charge, they went from trailing 28-27 to leading 52-37 to turn Game 2 of the Finals into an early blowout and eventually a 110-77 win. When the smoke cleared, the man facing the most unique of scrutiny had 28 points, including five three-pointers, seven rebounds and five assists against one turnover.

Green is one flagrant-foul point from a suspension and/or two technicals away from being forced to sit out a game ever since his emotions became the focus of attention in the Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City. Or, rather, the focus of negative attention. His energy and role as a locker-room leader, even in last season’s championship despite while in just a third-year pro, has long been credited as a driving force for Golden State.

These playoffs, though, are when the emotions became a problem and maybe even a pressing problem. Kicking the Thunder’s Steven Adams in the groin — inadvertently, Green insisted repeatedly — could have cost the Warriors their starting power forward and small-ball center for a game at the very moment Golden State was fighting for survival. And then, after the league decided against a suspension, Green got a technical in the third quarter of Game 5 of the West finals.

But he has been the personification of composure since. Zero flagrants, zero techs in his last four-plus playoff games. In that time, the Warriors became only the 10th team to ever rally from a 3-1 deficit in the playoffs and now own a 2-0 lead against the Cavaliers in The Finals. Twenty-two assists against nine turnovers over the same time.

“Draymond does everything for us,” coach Steve Kerr said. “He defends. When we play our small lineup, he’s our rim protector. It’s a tough job in this series because he has to guard Kevin Love, who is usually spaced out at the three-point line. So he’s got to pick his spots, how to help and try not to stray too far away from Love and still be able to help out on LeBron. So it’s a difficult job. But I thought Draymond was great. Obviously he knocked down his three-point shots tonight, which is just a bonus. But he’s always one of our most important players and had a heck of a game.”

In Game 1 on Thursday though, the Cavs were held under a point per possession for just the second time in the postseason. They shot 38 percent and had as many turnovers (17) as assists. And it was a good time to remember that the Golden State Warriors can be the best defensive team in the league when they’re locked in.

The key to the Warriors’ defensive success is their versatility, having multiple guys who can defend multiple guys. And on Thursday, the defending champs switched screens liberally in order to keep the Cavs in front of them.

That stifled Cleveland’s ball movement and had the Cavs trying to exploit one-on-one matchups. But the Warriors also double-teamed liberally and were quick to help whenever the Cavs got near the basket, where they shot just 17-for-35.

Those 35 attempts in the restricted area were a postseason high for the Cavs. And interestingly, one of the three times they topped that number in the regular season was their Christmas game at Golden State, when they shot 16-for-40 in the restricted area.

“I thought we did a good job of challenging a lot of shots,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Friday. “I thought they missed a couple that they would normally make, but all in all it was a good defensive effort.”

The Cavs can beat you both at the basket and from beyond the arc. In Game 1 of the conference finals, the Toronto Raptors focused on slowing down Cleveland’s 3-point shooting and gave up too many layups. On Thursday, the Warriors clearly made protecting the paint their No. 1 priority.

Here’s LeBron James backing down Stephen Curry after a switch, with both Festus Ezeli and Draymond Green (who’s leaving Kevin Love alone in the opposite corner) ready to help at the basket.

“When Steph switches on to him,” Kerr said, “he’s just got to do his best to stay in front, and we’ve got to help as much as we can, without giving up open threes. It’s much easier said than done, so we’re just doing our best.”

Three possessions later, James was backing down Klay Thompson after another switch, with Ezeli and Green again moving into position to help…

James has always been one of the league’s best finishers. But according to SportVU, his field goal percentage at the rim drops from 68 percent when there’s one defender there to 58 percent when there’s two or more. And his first instinct when he sees a second defender is to pass the ball.

“They’re switching 1 through 5,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said, “and when LeBron gets the ball in the post, they’re coming to double team. Also, when he gets the mismatch and he drives the basketball, they’re all collapsing. And we’ve got to make open 3s.”

But when the Warriors prioritize protecting the rim, it doesn’t mean that they’re willing to give up open 3s. All the attention that James was drawing after switches should have resulted in more open looks for his teammates, but the Warriors were on a string defensively and Green, in particular, did a great job of recovering out to his man after helping in the paint.

Here he is closing out on Love just two seconds after helping on James under the basket …

On the following possession, Green left Love to help on a Tristan Thompson roll to the basket …

Throughout the game, the Warriors were quick to send double-teams on post-ups …

And also load up the strong side with an extra defender …

The Cavs, more often than not, were unable to take advantage. The Warriors rotations were generally great. But also, according to SportVU, 19 of Cleveland’s 21 3-point attempts were uncontested. The Cavs shot 37 percent (7-for-19) on those shots, down from a mark of 46 percent through the first three rounds.

Channing Frye was 24-for-40 (60 percent) on uncontested 3s before Thursday, but got just one look at one in Game 1. Cleveland didn’t use its floor-spacing lineups as much as it had in previous series. Thompson’s 31 minutes were the most he’s played since Game 1 of the conference semifinals and Frye’s seven minutes (including 2:24 of garbage time) were the fewest he’s played since that same game.

That was a clear sacrifice of offense for better defense. Thompson isn’t exactly Bill Russell out there, but Frye would have an even harder time keeping up with the Warriors’ ball and player movement. When Golden State used Green at the five against the Cavs’ second unit, Lue sat Frye down.

The question for Lue is whether Frye can make up for his defensive issues by making the Warriors pay for loading up on James. On Friday, Lue hinted that we will see more minutes for Frye in Game 2 on Sunday.

“We have to get more shooting out on the floor to try to keep those guys at home on the defensive end,” Lue said. “They do a good job of having a guy guard a ball and four guys are in the paint. So Channing will give us some spacing out on the floor. And just defensively, we’ve got to be able to make sure we have him on the right matchup.”

James believes the Cavs can’t waste time as their exploring those post-switch mismatches. Quicker decisions can produce more open shots.

“When you’re out there and they’re switching and you have a one-on-one matchup,” James said, “I think quick moves and not holding it as long is good. I think when you keep the ball on one side for too long and you’re pounding and pounding and pounding, then that can — too much of that won’t result in good basketball. It won’t result in good rhythm for everyone out on the floor.

“So there is a fine line. I’m okay with us having some isolation basketball if we’re going quick. But we’re holding the ball and we’re just staring down the defense and we’re staring down the ball, then it can become a problem for us.”

It wasn’t as big of a problem against their Eastern Conference opponents, who had to pick their poison, either dying by paint points or by 3s. The Warriors weren’t as highly ranked defensively as the Hawks were in the regular season, but they had the league’s No. 1 defense a year ago, they shut down the Cavs’ offense in last year’s Finals, and no team is more qualified to defend both the basket and the 3-point line.

“You have to be on a string,” Andre Iguodala said. “You have to know your rotations. You have to know where you want the ball to go, and you kind of influence the ball to go there. Meaning if you got a great shooter in the corner, you might want to influence the ball to go to the wing and, either we’re stunting or we’re X-ing out. It’s the shell defensive principles, but you got to have five guys on the same page. You got to be communicating in order for it to work.”

June 3, 2016 · 8:02 PM ET

OAKLAND — Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue is doing his best to block out the white noise after his team’s 15-point loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of The Finals.

Everybody, and I mean everybody has a suggestion, a tweak Lue can try, an adjustment he can make to ensure that his team doesn’t get overwhelmed down the stretch in Game 2.

But for everything the world thinks he needs to change, Lue is confident in the game plan used in Game 1. It was the execution that was the problem. After watching the film from Game 1, Lue said his team got the things they wanted — mismatches on the offensive end, wide-open looks, countless opportunities in and around the rim and a pace, for the most part, that suited his crew.

LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love all showed up and had an impact. Sure, the bench was outscored 45-10, something no one could prepare for, but otherwise Lue liked what he saw in terms of the opportunities that presented themselves.

So forgive the first-year coach, the one who has been on this stage before as a player, for resisting the need to scrap the plan for something new after just one game.

“I don’t see a reason for change,” Lue said Friday. “I think the way they play defense, they switch 1 through 5, and it makes you play one-on-one basketball. So your movement with floppy stuff coming off of pin-downs, they just switch out and try to deny those passes. And then you’ve got to post Kevin, you’ve got to post LeBron against those mismatches. So I don’t see any reason for change. We’ve just got to convert.”

Lue’s belief in what the Cavaliers are doing, the same things that led to them blowing through the Eastern Conference playoffs to return here for a second straight season, won’t be enough for the masses.

The isolation sets he knew would come with the Warriors’ switching on defense, came to fruition. The stagnant offensive stretches that comes from indecisiveness with the ball were expected as well. Lue said his team obviously has to handle those situations better. They have to push the pace, be more decisive and finish with authority, whether they are playing isolation basketball or playing with pace.

James agrees.

“Coach has given us a game plan, and we need to execute it,” James said. “If Coach feels like we need to play faster, then we do. We’ve got to push the tempo a little bit more offensively, see if we can get down, get some easy baskets and get to the flow of our game. It’s been a good thing for us throughout the whole season once Coach Lue took over, so we need to do that.”

He did, however, acknowledge the narrow space that has to be navigated playing that way.

“It’s a fine line. When you’re out there and they’re switching and you have a one-on-one matchup, I think quick moves and not holding it as long is good,” James said. “I think when you keep the ball on one side for too long and you’re pounding and pounding and pounding, then that can — too much of that won’t result in good basketball. It won’t result in good rhythm for everyone out on the floor.

“So there is a fine line. I’m okay with us having some isolation basketball if we’re going quick. But we’re holding the ball and we’re just staring down the defense and we’re staring down the ball, then it can become a problem for us.”

Squandering those opportunities in a game where Warriors’ leading stars and leading scorers Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combine for just 20 points, as they did in Game 1, is simply not a recipe for success.

That’s why Lue continues to harp on playing at a faster pace and to get up and down the floor, where the Cavaliers can take advantage of their strengths in that realm.

“I just think it has to be more of a fast-paced controlled tempo, if that makes any sense,” Irving said. “With us, I think that’s our missed opportunities and we were just really, really rushing. We were getting to where we like to go, but we like to play inside out, but if the outside shot is falling for us, we’re going to stick with it.

“But the ball was going into the post a lot and we watched film and we’re seeing some weak side action that we can be better at. It’s just quick, decisive decisions. We make plays, other guys get shots and we get back on defense. I think last night a few times in the post, guys were getting doubled, and we’ve got to be ready to make plays on the weak side for our teammates.”

June 2, 2016 · 8:58 PM ET

A post shared by John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) on Jun 2, 2016 at 4:25pm PDT

OAKLAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers don’t want you to call it a rematch of the 2015 Finals. They insist this year’s team is so drastically different at this stage of the season that it’s unfair to call this series against the Golden State Warriors a “rematch.”

Kevin Love is healthy. Kyrie Irving, who went down late in Game 1 last year with a cracked knee cap and missed the remainder of the series, is back and healthy. LeBron James is certainly healthy and rested after the Cavaliers smashed their way through the Eastern Conference finals.

But what is this if it’s not a rematch?

The same two teams going at for the second straight season for the Larry O’Brien Trophy … sounds like a rematch to me. I bet it sounds like a rematch to the reigning two-time (and this time unanimous) KIA MVP Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and Draymond Green (that’s him up top in black and white) and the rest of the champion Warriors and the raucous crowd here filling up Oracle Arena as we get closer to tip off of Game 1 of these 2016 Finals.

Just call it what it is.

Round 2.

The Remix.

Part II.

#NBAFinals — Dubs-Cavs II

It’s a rematch. And it’s the one we all wanted. It’s okay to admit it now that they’ve both made it back here.

Don’t tell Harrison Barnes, who is back in the starting lineup for the Warriors, that it’s not a rematch.